In business environments, and in particular manufacturing environments such as the automotive industry, parts are often delivered in racks, or on pallets, or on skids. Upon receipt of the delivered parts, the parts assembled into completed products.
Radio frequency identification (RFID) is an emerging technology that leverages electronic data and wireless communication for identification purposes and can be utilized with systems from secure Internet payment systems to industrial automation and access control systems. In particular, RFID is technology that facilitates automatic identification that enhances data handling processes and is complementary in many ways to other data capture technologies, such as bar coding. However, unlike other forms of data collection, such as bar coding and/or manual methods, RFID relieves employees from the repetitive, time-consuming and error-prone process of obtaining data from countless thousands of items. Thus, the benefits of utilization of RFID technology include reduced labor costs, simplified business processes, improved inventory control and increased sales.
A goal of an RFID system can be to carry data in suitable transponders, generally known as RFID tags, and to retrieve data by machine-readable means at any desired time and place to satisfy particular application needs.
Non-automated methods for replenishing parts in the product manufacturing process present multiple inefficiencies. Where the replenishment requests for product manufacturing parts is not responsive in real-time, the manufacturing process is inefficient. Such inefficiencies can lead to manufacturing slowdowns or even stoppages.
One solution to managing product manufacturing parts inventory replenishment is to have the parts delivery person visit the assembly location periodically and make note of what parts need replenishing. This solution requires extra travel for the parts delivery person, who must personally visit each product manufacturing facility individually in order to determine what parts need to be replenished. Additionally, there is the possibility that the inventory of parts can be exhausted at a time where the parts delivery person is not available, leading to either a slowdown or a stoppage of the product manufacturing facility. A way to fix this problem is to keep each product manufacturing facility stocked with extra inventory to assure constant operation, but this approach is inefficient and creates potential problems for sensitive or perishable inventory items.
Another solution to managing product manufacturing parts inventory replenishment is to have the assembler call for the parts that need to be replenished. This solution could be implemented by a networked call button that indicates when and where the parts need to be replenished. This solution obviates the need for the parts delivery person to visit each manufacturing facility individually, and allows for keeping parts inventories at minimal levels. However, this solution requires the attention and time of the assembler, which detracts from the assembler's primary function. The assembler's primary function is assembling the constituent parts into a partially or completely assembled product. It is possible that the assembler will not notice that the parts inventory level has dropped below a lower limit until it is too late to prevent a line stoppage. The application of wireless technology to this solution does not resolve the necessity of the assembler's attention to the parts inventory level.
Yet another solution to managing product manufacturing parts inventory replenishment is to create specialized racks that notice the presence of the parts by weight, light beam, or other methods. The exact local inventory is ascertained automatically, and when the local inventory drops below a lower limit, an automatic replenishment request can be generated. Accordingly, the inventory replenishment can be optimized. However, this solution is expensive to install because it requires specialized racks capable of sensing the presence of parts. Furthermore, this solution requires either special shipping containers capable of noticing the presence of the parts or a parts transfer step, where the parts are removed from the shipping containers and placed onto the special racks that notice the presence of the parts. Additionally, while this solution does track the number of parts in the inventory, it is not able to track more specific information associated with the parts in the inventory, such as part identification number, part type, date of part manufacture, part cost, part supplier information, part color, or part composition.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an automated solution to the problem of tracking the number of parts in an inventory while tracking specific information associated with those parts in real-time to maximize the efficiency of inventory replenishment as parts from the inventory are consumed in the manufacturing assembly process.
The RFID technology can further be employed to verify the correctness of an RFID tagged part that is to be incorporated into a partially assembled product in an industrial process. Use of RFID technology presents a significant improvement over the prior art of bar coding. Bar coding technology requires optical scanning of the bar code. Optical scanning of the bar code requires repositioning the bar code reader, the part, or the partially assembled product in order to verify the correctness of the part. Repositioning any of these elements of the assembly process requires redesigning the assembly system to accommodate the need for repositioning in order to perform an optical scan. Because the orientation of the RFID tagged part is irrelevant to the ability of an RFID reader to sense electronic information kept on the RFID tag, there is no need to redesign the assembly system. The longer range of RFID technology further allows one to incorporate RFID technology into existing assembly systems with little or no modification to the existing systems. The RFID reader need only be within the effective range of the RFID tags embedded in the RFID tagged parts in order to be effective. For example, an RFID reader could be housed in a small compartment in an area nearby to the assembly area, completely out of the way of the existing assembly system.
Use of RFID technology in the context of checking a completely assembled product for completeness presents significant advantages over the use of bar code technology. First, the bar codes must be optically scanned by a reader, which requires special positioning of either the completely assembled product or the reader itself. The need for special repositioning can interfere with an efficient assembly system, requiring special designs or modifications to accommodate an automated repositioning system. Second, the bar codes must be visually accessible to the reader. For a complicated completely assembled product with parts that are located in its interior, optical scanning can require either some disassembly to allow for optical access or at least some manipulation of the completely assembled product in order to achieve optical access.
For example, if the completely assembled product is an automobile, one must design a system that opens the hood of the automobile in order to optically scan parts under the hood. RFID technology can also be applied to determining the parts composition of products returned by consumers to a manufacturer or a representative. RFID technology presents numerous advantages over bar code technology in this context. First, bar code technology, requiring optical scanning, can require some disassembly of the returned product in order to read the bar code. The need for some disassembly creates a situation in which the manufacturer or representative can inadvertently damage the returned product, independently of any damage the consumer can have reported or caused. There is thus the potential for further damaging the returned product beyond repair, or damaging the returned product in a manner different from the damage that originally motivated the consumer to return the product. Second, bar codes must be located on the surface of the parts. Because of their location on the surface of parts, bar codes can be damaged by either normal wear and tear or alternatively by the consumer's removal of the bar code or defacement.
RFID technology presents solutions to the efficiency and durability problems faced by bar codes. RFID tags can be read without any disassembly of the returned product. The parts composition of the returned products can be read without even removing the returned product from the shipping container used to return the product from the consumer to the manufacturer or representative. With RFID tags, there is no need for human manipulation of the returned product, which minimizes the possibility that the returned product may be damaged in the inspection process. Furthermore, RFID tags need not be located on the surface of the parts. As such, RFID tags are not susceptible to surface damage by normal wear and tear. Additionally, RFID tags are more difficult to locate and disable by consumers than bar codes. Accordingly, the use of RFID technology in determining the parts composition of products returned by consumers to a manufacturer or a representative presents significant advantages over bar code technology.